After having read the novel I learned of the film and wondered how the hell they were going to do it justice. So here's the high points. Michael Cera gets a lot of flack for playing a similar kind of role over and over, and whether or not that's true, I enjoy watching him. In fact, I think he took great strides in this film, especially in his supporting role of Francios. There is a lot to like about him here. And Portia Doubleday (despite not being what I had in mind for the role) is a hell of a young actress and I'm sure we'll see a lot more of her. The film has an assload of great actors in supporting roles including Steve Bushemi and one of my favorites, Justin Long.
Obviously they've cut A LOT out to make it fit into the length of a film, and I understand and accept that. In fact, I think the major flaw in this film is that they felt like they had to be too faithful to a lot of the key set pieces, etc... And because of this there is so much going on, the film moves at an extremely fast pace to make sure we hit all the scenes, however it doesn't leave us room for the fantastic characters to really shine, or for us to latch onto them. When I read the book I felt a pit in my stomach each and every time Nick has a near miss with Sheeni, here... it just happened. And I think that comes from cramming in too much still. I would have been fine if they made the film about him trying to get kicked out of his mother's house and just stretched that story out as best they could.
I have a hard time recommending this film, despite my love for the book. If anything this film has inspired me to read the next volume in the series, which I have sitting on my desk. All right. It's going in my bag right... now.
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